Apparatus for manufacturing doors



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. W. GRIER. APPARATUS FOR MANUFAGTURING DO0RS, &c.

nvun

Patented Nov. 10,1896},

WITNESSES 1H: alarms PETERS co. Puorauwn" wAsumcToN. n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

WAW; GRIER.

APPARATUS FOR 'MANUFAGTURING DOORS, &c

Patented Nov. 10, 1896;

WITNESSES moxuumo Mm Nm'on u c (No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. W. GRIER. APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING nouns, &c.

No. 570,992. Patented Nov. 10; 1896.

WITNESSES aw WQWM M m: nonms PEYERS ca. mom .lmmwasummon. 0. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM IV. GRIER, OF IIULTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DOORS, 800.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 570,992, dated November10, 1896.

Application filed August 5, 1893- Serial No. 482,428. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. GRIER, of Hulton, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Doors, &c., of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

I shall describe my improvementwith reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through a buildingcontaining apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontalcrosssection on the line II II of Fig. 1. The other figures are on alarger scale. Fig. 3 shows in plan View one of the tables with a doorclamped thereto. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on the lineIV, IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section on the line VV thereof, and Fig. 6 isa detail view showing parts of the apparatus in side elevation.

The object of my inventionis to provide means for the rapid assemblingand gluing together of the parts of doors, shutters, &c.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 2 represents an inclosure or buildingcontaining the apparatus, and 3 represents a revolving shed or framecontained within the building and supported by a rotary post 4, ,whichis revoluble, so as to turn the shed around on its vertical axis. Aroundthis shed is a circular series of tables 5, on which the doors areassembled and glued, and extending around said series of tables is arailway-track 6, having branches 7, leading outside the building andpreferably provided with a turn-table or switch 8, adapting the cars tobe shunted upon a track 9, from whence they may be introduced into theshed. The shed is adapted to contain the lumber to be made into doors,&c., and is provided with suitable glue-rolls 10, which may be driven bybelt connections 11 from a driving-shaft 12. The shed also carries oneor more clamp-suspending ropes or'chains 13", upheld by'a counterweightor weights 14., and adapted to be attached to clamps 13 upon the tables5 as they are brought opposite thereto by revolution of the shed. Forthe purpose of heating the lumber used in making the doors, &c.,. Iemploy a steam-pipe 15, which leads into the central post 1 and thusheats the room of the shed in which the lumber is kept. 16 is a porch oropen portion at the periphery of the shed where the workman stands forthe purpose of gluing and clamping the parts of the doors.

The general operation of the apparatus is as follows: The shed havingbeen charged with lumber by means of the car 17, the workman standing atthe porch 16, having glued the proper parts of the door, lays them uponone of the tables in front of the porch, clamps them together by theclamp 13, (one of these clamps being upon each table and having beenfirst raised to permit the door parts to be assembled,) releases theclamp-suspending device from the clamp and upholds the counterbalance bya suitable lever or other device, turns the shed so as to bring theclamp-suspending device opposite to a second table, lifts the clamptherefrom, lays upon the table the parts of a door, and clamps them uponit after lowering the clamp, and thus proceeds, turning the shedsuccessively and making a door on each table as the clampsu'spendingdevice is brought opposite thereto. WVhen doors have thus been assembledand glued on all the tables, they will have remained with their partsclamped together long enough to have become sufficiently set to be movedwith safety, so that thereafter, before building a second door on eachof the series of tables, the workman releases the clamp, removes theprevious door and puts it on the car 17 which is moved along the trackuntil it has been loaded and is ready to be taken from the building. Bythis mechanism I am enabled to carry on the manufacture of the doorsVery rapidly and to make them perfectly level and symmetrical and muchmore uniform and regular in size than is possible with other apparatus.The part of the mechanism which I claim herein as my invention consistsin a new form of clamping device, which is shown in detail on the secondand third sheets of the drawings and which I shall now proceed todescribe. Y

In Fig. 3 I show the table and clamping device alone, and in Figs. 4 and5 I show the same with a door thereonin process of manufacture. Thetable, as shown in Fig. 3, is preferably supported by end trunnions 18,enabling it to be tilted from a horizontal to a vertical position. lachtable has a level bed-plate 19, on which the parts of the door are laid,an end rail 20, against which the end parts of the door abut, and alaterallyadjustable side bar 21, secured to swinging links 22,permitting it to be shifted laterally into different positions, in whichit can be fixed by pins fitting in holes Z). On the side of the tableopposite the bar 21 is a bar 23, preferably composed of two horizontalparallel strips somewhat separated vertically from each other by anintermediate fixed strip 24. I separate these strips, so that they shallnot bear upon the middle of the doors edge, for doors made as describedin the application below mentioned have at the edge a longitudinalmiddle filling-strip, against which it is not desirable to exertpressure. These strips are adapted to be forced inwardly against theedge of a door, which-is interposed between them and the opposite. bar21, by mechanism the preferable construction of which is shown in Figs.3, 5, l

and 0. v

25 25 are parallel rods which extend along the side of the table and arelongitudinally movable in guides 26. Each rod is connected at its end toa lever 27, enabling it to be moved lengthwise forcibly, and theleverhas an adjustable ratchet 2,8 or other locking de: vice. Atintervals along the table are pairs of elbow-levers 29, set one abovethe other, having pivotal bearings against posts 30. The levers of eachpair are connected, respectively, to longitudinally-adjustable nuts 31on the rods 25,'and the inner ends of the levers carry clamping-shoes32, which bear, respectively, against the upper and lower side strips ofthe bar 23. Each lever is preferably forked, so as to afford alongitudinal slot 0. The clamping-shoe is held to the lever by a pin d,which fits in said slot and permits its longitudinal adjustment on thelever. A convenient construction of the levers is to make them ofsteel'rods bent double into the desired angled form, so as to afford theslot 0. The resiliency 0f the steel gives a spring ac= tion to thelevers and causes them to act yieldingly against the edge of the door.If new the rods 25 are moved longitudinally by means of the hand-levers27, the series of levers 29 will be turned on their pivots and willpress the clamping-shoes 32 inwardly against the edge of the door to beclamped and force the door against the bar 21 with a force cor?responding to that exerted upon the handlevers. Convenient adjustment ofthe device may be made by moving the nuts 31 on the rods 25 and byadjusting the shoes 32 lengthwise in the slots. WVhile the use of theselevers is desirable and is claimed herein specifically, the invention,as stated in the broader claims, is not limited thereto, since suitablecams or screws may be substituted for the levers.

Cams 33 are arranged at the end of the ta: ble, and are adapted to forceamovable rail 34 against the end of the door and to press it against thebar 20 at the other end of the table. The levers, cams, and bars abovedescribed provide means for the horizontal or edgewise clamping of thedoor, all this mechanism forming a permanent part of each table.

In order to provide for the vertical clamping of the door, I provide thetable with elevated clamping-rods 35, adapted to coact with verticalpressure devices or clamps and held firmly to the table by theanchor-bolts 36, through eyes of which the bars pass. The

transverse pressure devices 37 are each composed, preferably, of twoparallel separated pieces set edgewise and having levers 38, providedwith hook-rods 39, adapted to engage with the rods at their hook ends,and provided with bearing-surfaces adapted to engage cain-surfaces 41 atthe top of the pressure devices, so that on turning the levers theirengagement with the cam-surfaces will cause them to bear down forciblythereon. The rods 39 preferably pass through nuts 42, enabling them tobe adjusted longitudinally to suit doors of different thickness. On theunder side of the transverse pressure devices at the ends thereof arelongitudinal stile-bars 43, which extend from end to end of the tableand are connected to two or more of the transverse clamps by means ofclevises 44, secured to the clamp in slots 45, enabling the strips to beadjusted laterally on the clamps to suit doors of various widths. Two ormore of the clamps are provided with bails or hangers 46, as shown inFig. 1, enabling them to be lifted by the suspending devices 13, asabove described.

The operation is as follows: The pieces of the door having been suitablycoated with glue are assembled in position on the bed 19 of the tableand are clamped horizontally by means of the levers, cams, and barsabove described, and then by means of the transverse clamps, which havebeen lowered upon the door and the hooks 39, which have been engagedwith the rods 35, a forcible down pressure of the stile-bars 43 upon thestiles of the door and of the middle portions of the transverse pressuredevices upon the cross rails is secured. These transverse clamps aresufficiently elastic to yield somewhat to the forcible pressure and topress evenly upon the parts of the door.

The whole operation of clamping the door in place may be performed veryrapidly, and the work is accomplished efficiently.

The apparatus is especially adapted to the manufacture of doors theparts of which are glued together, as described in a prior patentapplication, Serial No. 465,291, filed by my self and O. J.hjlatthewson; but the invention is not limited thereto, since it may beused in the manufacture of doors, shutters, wainseoting, (be,differently constructed. 7

W'ithin the scope of my invention as defined in the claims modificationsin the form and arrangement of the parts may be made,

since I believe I am the first to use in the manufacture of doors, &c.,clamps which press upon and clamp the sides and edges of the door.

. vices; substantially as described.

the pressure devices and arranged to press upon the door between thestile-bars; substantially as described.

4. The combination With a table or bed, of pressure devices acting atright angles thereto to press the assembled parts against the bed,

and other pressure devices arranged to act against both the side and endedges and force the parts together laterally; substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination with a table or bed, of longitudinal stile-barsthereon transverse clamping-bars resting upon and longitudinallyadjustable along the stile-bars and 'arranged to press the door downupon the table, and depending clamping-levers bearing on these bars andhaving their lower ends engaging the table; substantially as described.

6. The combination with a table, of longitudinal stile-bars thereon,transverse clamps adjustable longitudinally upon the stile-bars, andclamping-levers bearing upon the transverse clamps and having dependinghooked ends arranged to engage longitudinal rods secured to the table;substantially as described.

7. The combination with a table, of longitudinal stile-bars thereon,transverse clamps adjustable longitudinally upon the stile-bars,laterally-acting side and end clamps for the article, andclamping-levers bearing upon the transverse clamps and having dependinghooked ends arranged to engage longitudinal rods secured to the table;substantially as de scribed.

S. The combination with a table or bed, of pressure devices acting atright angles thereto to press the assembled parts against the bed,

and other pressure devices arranged to act against both the side and endedges, the side pressure devices having separated bearings upondilferent portions of the edge of the article; substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM V. GRIER.

Witnesses:

W. B. GonWIN, THOMAS W. BAKEWELL.

